Coffin-fastener



(No Model.) 2 SIneetasafhet, 2. F. o. RIDDLE. GOPFIN FASTENER.

No. 476,815. Patented June 7,1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK C. RIDDLE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

COFFlN-FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 476,315, dated June '7, 1892.

Application filed November 19, 1891. Serial No. 412,429. (No model.) i

To all whom it may concerm' Be it known that I, FRANK C. RIDDLE, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fasteners for the Tops of Burial- Gaskets, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. j v

My invention relates to improved means and devices for securing the top or lid of caskets to the body part of the'casket, and has for its object the provision of convenient means for securely fastening the lid or top of the casket to the body part of the same in such manner as to adapt the top to be conveniently removed altogether or to be turned up, as with a hinge-joint, to either side of the casket.

It consists in the hereinafter-described automatic fastening device7 which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

The requirements of such a device are the following: That the device as a Whole shall be simple, inexpensive, and easily applied; that it shall be of such form of construction and method of operation as to adapt the top to be easily and positively secured to the body part of the casket, conveniently removable as a whole when desirable, and turned up, as if the top 'were secured to the body part with a hinge, to either side without any danger of the top being detached from the body part in so doing. How I accomplish these results will be understood from the following description of the essential features of my invention and its method of operation, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of reference denote like parts in the ,several figures.

Figures l, 2, and 3 are views illustrative of the application of my improved fastener to a burial-casket, Fig. l being a side elevation, partly in section, with the lid or top raised away from the body part of the casket; Fig. 2, a side elevation, partly in section, showing the lid raised as hinged to the farther side of the body part; and Fig. 3, a cross-section taken as on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2. Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are enlarged detail views illustrative of the method of attachment and operation of my improved fastener. Fig. 4 is a view taken as in Fig. l, showing the woodp work broken away or in section. Fig. 5 is a cross-section taken on the line 5 5 in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a view taken as in Fig. 4, but with the lid brought down as when the casket is closed. Fig. 7 is a cross-section taken on the line 7 7 in Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a view` taken as in Fig. 2, the lid being turned up to one side, making use of the fastener as a hinge. Fig. 9 is a section taken on the line 9 9 in Fig. 8; and Fig. 10, a plan view of the coacting parts of my fastener as placed, relatively, in Fig. 8.

My improved fastener consists, as illustrated, in a perforated keeper-plate l, secured by screws in the upper edge of the sides of the body part 2 of the casket, and the foot4, with its toe 4t, projecting in the line of the hook-slot of the keeper-plate, said hook being secured to the under side of the lid 6. There are preferably four such fastenings used on each casket, as shown in Fig. 2. The foot 4 is secured to the lid by screws,its base being formed with a dared-out portion 8, as shown in Figs. 8 and 10.

As shown in Figs. 4, 6, and S, the keeperplate l is formed with a perforation or longitudinal hook-slot 10 of a size and shape adapted to receive the foot 4, with its longitudinally-projecting toe 4, and, as shown in dotted lines in Figs. 4, 6, 8, and 10, an inclined surface l1 on the under side as a continuation of the slot 10.

As shown at 12 and 13, respectively, in Figs. 5 and 7, the keeper-plate l is cut away in a portion of its length on its upper outside and inner under side, inner, and outer sides with relation to the inner and outer edges of the sides of the casket when the plates are secured thereon, the plates and feet being necessarily made in right and left hand pairs, as will appear from the hereinafter described method of operation.

As shown in Fig. l0, the cut-away portions 12 and 13 are of a length corresponding, respectively, to the reduced portion of the foot 4 .and the longer longitudinally-projecting toe 4 and of such depth relatively that when the foot portion 4 of the fastener is inserted into the keeper portion l, as shown in Fig. 7, and turned over to the position shown in Figs. 9 and lO it will permit the base portion, which is secured to the lid 6, to assume an approximately perpendicular position, -as shown in Fig. 3, a position in which it will be ICO Lwasn-i retained by its own Weight and that of the lid in that position. The bottom of the recess or cut-away portion. 13 is inclined, as shown in Figs. 5, '7, and 9, in order to leave as much material for strength as possible in the keeper-piece l, and to match with this one side of the longitudinally-projecting hook portion of the footis correspondingly beveled off toward its extending toe.

The Hat springs 14, (shown in Figs. 1 and 2,) secured to the under side of the lid 6, are designed to engage when the lid is closed down onto the casket and pushed longitudinally, as will be hereinafter explained, with a shoulder l5, preferably armored, cut in the upper edge of the sides of the casket.

As before stated and as shown in Fig. 2, there are preferably four fasteners used on each casket, one of the feet 4 being secured near each end of either edge of the under side of the casket-top and at correspondingly-similar positions four of the keeper-plates 1 in the upper edge of the body part 2. The fasteners as a Whole are made in right and left pairs for this reason: The inclined underneath grooves 1l of all of the keeper-plates 1 are necessarily turned in one direction and the relatively raised portion of the sides of the keeper-plates 1 left by the cut-away portion 12, With which the toe 4 of the foot 4 engages when the fastener is used as a hinge, have to be turned in a definite directon, as will appear from the following description of the method ofv operation:

In making use of my improved fastener the lid 6 is brought to a superposed position over the casket-body 2 to a position as is indicated in Fig. 1,bringing the coacting parts 4 and 1 of the fastener to the relative position shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The lid is then dropped down onto the casket, the several feet 4 en-v tering the slots 10 in the keepers 1, the several parts of the fastener assuming a relative position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6, or, as far as the relatively longitudinal position is. concerned, in Fig. 10. The lid is then pushed bodily longitudinally, bringing the coacting parts of the fastener to the relative position shown in Fig. -that is, the toe 4a of the foot 4 in under the end of the keeperplate 1-retaining it against being removed vertically. If, as in practice will often occur, one of the corners of the lid is sprung, so that the lid does not lie iat on the bodypart, the inclines 11 will permit the toe portion of the foot 4 to enter and as the lid is pushed longitudinally Willbring the lid down close to the body part all round. The relative positions of the spring 14 and the shoulder 15 are such that when thislongitudinal movement of the lid 6 has been completed the spring 14 Will spring in behind the shoulder 15 and will prevent any reverse longitudinal movement of the lid until the spring 14 is lifted out from behind the shoulder 15. For this purpose the spring 14 is made Wide or with an extending ear, so it will projectbeyond the margin of the sides of the casket-body, adapting it to be taken hold of and raised When the lid is down and pushed to alocked position, as just described. Vhen it is desired for any reason to remove the lid or top 6 after it has been closed and locked, as described, the springs 14 are raised to a position of non-engagement with the shoulders 15, When the lid can be moved by a reverse longitudinal movement to a position in which the feet 4 may be removed by a vertical movement from the keeper-plate 1, lifting the lid bodily, as shown in Fig. 1.

Quite often it is desirable to only turn up the top 6 to a position shown in Figs. 2 and 3, leaving the top 6 still secured to the body part 2 of the casket, as if connected by a hinge, and, furthermore, it is often inconvenient to turn the top up to one particular side, as shown in Fig. 3, as if it were permanently fastened With a hinge on one side, making it desirable that the fastenings, Whatever they be, shall be adapted to permit the top to be turned up to either side. HOW this desirable result is obtained with my device is illustrated in Figs. 8, 9, and 10. When the lid has been brought to the position adapting the feet to be Withdrawn from the keeper-plate 1 on one side of the lid, the feet 4 are left in engagement with the plate 1 in the slot 10 and the other side simply raised, the lid as a Whole being made to revolve about the outer edge of the former side as a center. The thickness of the longitudinally-projecting toe or toe portion of the foot 4, coming against the relatively raised side portion of the plate 1, prevents the foot 4 from leaving the slot.10 in such movement. When the top 6 has been turned to the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and the coacting parts of the fastener to the relative position, as shown in Figs. 8, 9, and 10, the comparatively reduced portion of the foot 4 Will enter and rest in the recess or cut 12 and the toe abut against the under side of the plate 1 in the recess y13, formed therein therefor, preventing any further rotation of the lid 6 andA retaining it in a raised or vertical position, as shown in Fig. 8. Itis obvious that the lid can be turned up as Well to one side as to the other.

The advantages and features of improvement of my device as a fastener for the tops of burial-caskets obtain in the obvious fulfillment of the desirable requirements in the application and method of operation, as heretofore specified.

I claim- 1. The combination, in a burial-casket, of a foot 4, having a longitudinally-projecting toe, and a slotted keeper-plate having in its upper surface a recess equal to the Width of the reduced portion of the foot and on the opposite side and under surface a recess equal to the length of the foot, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. The combination, in a burial-casket fastener, of a foot4,provided Witha longitudinallyprojecting toe having a beveled-or inclined side, and a slotted keeper-plate having an in- IIO IZO

eiined recess in its under surface on one side of the keeper-plate slot, substantially as and for the' purposes specified.

3. The combination, in a burial-casket fastener, of a foot 4, having a longitudinally-proj eating toe, and a slotted keeper-plate havin g on its under surface a longitudinally-inclined recess which terminates in one end of the keeper-slot for the reception of the toe of the ro foot and also a lateral reeess on one side of and corresponding in length with the slot in the keeper-plate, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature, in presence of two Witnesses, this 2d I5 day of November, 1891.

FRANK C. RIDDLE.

Witnesses:

Jos. W. CRooKEs, i A. RAMEL. 

